Methods Used by Estate Communities in Procuring Information: a Study based on Haliela Divisional Secretariat Division in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka is still a developing country and as a whole there are places where information services and its dissemination is very poorly taken place. One such area is the estate sector in the up country region. Not only information services, the other economic, social, political and cultural benefits and incentives are lacking to those who are living in the up country estate premises. During the British period, Indian workers were brought for the tea the plantation purposes. Estate labor force accounts for 6% of Sri Lanka's population. Although the estate sectors development rate in Sri Lanka is low, the contribution of estate people to the gross domestic product of Sri Lanka is significant. The success of using the right methods for obtaining information in day-to-day life was not significantly as expected due to the deficiency of social, economic, cultural, political, and educational and information availability for the estate people in Sri Lanka. The problem of the study focuses on identifying the methods used for the acquisition of information of estate people with the types of information they needed. The other objectives of the research is to assure what methods using for getting their information, to examine these methods are used correctly. The study applies survey research. Both the primary and secondary data are used for the above research and the primary data is collected through interviews and questionnaires. The cluster sampling method is used collecting the data. 100 families in the up country estate sector will be used as the study sample. Hundreds of families belonging to three Grama Seva Divisions of the Haliela Divisional Secretariat Division in Badulla District will be selected for study in the ratio of 1: 2: 7. This research is very important because the quality of the media and methods used in the acquisition of information will undoubtedly help for the betterment of this marginalized communities in the estate sector. The results will be beneficial for this socially excluded people to divert for the social inclusion.